Annette’s Cowry Shell, Pseudozonaria annettae

Annette’s Cowry Shell, Pseudozonaria annettae. Shell collected off the beach in the greater Bahía de los Ángeles area, Baja California, April 2014. Size: 4.8 cm (1.9 inches) x 2.7 cm (1.1 inches). Collection, photograph and identification courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.

Annette’s Cowry, Pseudozonaria annettae (Dall, 1909), is a gastropod mollusk that is a member of the Cypraeidae Family of Cowries. They are known in Mexico as cuaris Annette. Annette’s Cowry was first described by the American naturalist and malacologist William Healy Dall. Dall described over 5,400 species in his lifetime and thirteen species have been named in his honor. He named this shell, Annette’s Cowry, after his wife, Annette Whitney, whom he married in 1880. The shell is pear-shaped with a white upper surface and heavily spotted with brown to chestnut dorsally. Ventrally they are pinkish-brown, transitioning to black spots along the sides. Annette’s Cowry shells reach a maximum of 5.5 cm (2.2 inches) in length and 3.0 cm (1.2 inches) in height.

Annette’s Cowries are found in shallow water in boulder and reef environments at depths up to 11 m (35 feet). They are found throughout the entire Sea of Cortez and along the west coast of mainland Mexico,  extending as far south as Peru. They have not been reported along the Pacific Coast of the Baja Peninsula.

Synonyms include Cypraea annettae, Cypraea ferruginosa, and Cypraea sowerbyi.